Can anyone tell me what are the pros and cons of fire doors, I am to
replace all my doors to suit a wheelchair user and I am being reccomended to
replace them with Fire Doors throughout?!.

Sid

SidKnee wrote:

Can anyone tell me what are the pros and cons of fire doors, I am to
replace all my doors to suit a wheelchair user and I am being reccomended to
replace them with Fire Doors throughout?!.

Pros: More solid, better sound insulation, impede spread of fire.
Cons: More expensive than an otherwise similar non fire door, 'kin heavy!

(If you actually want then to perform as fire doors then you also need
to either add an intumescent strip to the sides (they normally have one
on the top as standard), or increase the thickness of the door stops to
25mm)
--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"John Rumm" wrote Pros: More solid, better
sound insulation, impede spread of fire.
Cons: More expensive than an otherwise similar non fire door, 'kin heavy!

(If you actually want then to perform as fire doors then you also need to
either add an intumescent strip to the sides (they normally have one on
the top as standard), or increase the thickness of the door stops to 25mm)
Ta John

But do they let you get out in the event of a fire?

Sidney

John Rumm wrote:

SidKnee wrote:

Can anyone tell me what are the pros and cons of fire doors, I am to
replace all my doors to suit a wheelchair user and I am being
reccomended to replace them with Fire Doors throughout?!.


Pros: More solid, better sound insulation, impede spread of fire.
Cons: More expensive than an otherwise similar non fire door, 'kin heavy!

(If you actually want then to perform as fire doors then you also need
to either add an intumescent strip to the sides (they normally have one
on the top as standard), or increase the thickness of the door stops to
25mm)

Mmmmm. Local primary school props open its two newest fire doors (comp
with 'fire door, keep closed' sign on it) so as to allow openness.
Previously it was to let out the heat that got trapped inside the first one.

The head wanted me to prop open the doors when I opened up the school. I
pointed to the signs and related all the fire training I undertook while
in the textile industry all those years ago and the extra training I had
in the aerospace industry just a few years ago and told her that I was
not prepared to wedge them open without a written request from her.
I have heard nothing since :-)

Dave

In article ,
John Rumm writes:
SidKnee wrote:

Can anyone tell me what are the pros and cons of fire doors, I am to
replace all my doors to suit a wheelchair user and I am being reccomended to
replace them with Fire Doors throughout?!.

Pros: More solid, better sound insulation, impede spread of fire.
Cons: More expensive than an otherwise similar non fire door, 'kin heavy!

(If you actually want then to perform as fire doors then you also need
to either add an intumescent strip to the sides (they normally have one
on the top as standard), or increase the thickness of the door stops to
25mm)

....and have a spring closer, since an open fire door is remarkably
useless. Would also be quite an issue for a wheelchair user I suspect.

--
Andrew Gabriel

In message , SidKnee
writes

"John Rumm" wrote Pros: More solid, better
sound insulation, impede spread of fire.
Cons: More expensive than an otherwise similar non fire door, 'kin heavy!

(If you actually want then to perform as fire doors then you also need to
either add an intumescent strip to the sides (they normally have one on
the top as standard), or increase the thickness of the door stops to 25mm)
Ta John

But do they let you get out in the event of a fire?

What do you mean by 'let you get out'? If you mean can you open them in
a fire, yes.

All a fire door does is hold back fire and smoke better and for longer
than a normal door. I imagine they are being recommended in this
situation because the wheelchair user presumably will not be able to get
out so easily (or possibly at all) in the event of fire so the fire
doors would give them extra protection whilst awaiting assistance.

down side is that the weight makes them harder to open for someone in
wheelchair and to be effective they should stay shut, or have a device
that holds them open, letting them shut in event of a fire
--
Chris French, Leeds

chris French wrote:

down side is that the weight makes them harder to open for someone in
wheelchair and to be effective they should stay shut, or have a device
that holds them open, letting them shut in event of a fire

To be fair, the fire doors I bought recently are much heavier than a
comparable egg box door, but probably not much more than a real wood door.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 22:36:53 +0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

In article ,
John Rumm writes:
SidKnee wrote:

Can anyone tell me what are the pros and cons of fire doors, I am to
replace all my doors to suit a wheelchair user and I am being reccomended to
replace them with Fire Doors throughout?!.

Pros: More solid, better sound insulation, impede spread of fire.
Cons: More expensive than an otherwise similar non fire door, 'kin heavy!

(If you actually want then to perform as fire doors then you also need
to either add an intumescent strip to the sides (they normally have one
on the top as standard), or increase the thickness of the door stops to
25mm)

...and have a spring closer, since an open fire door is remarkably
useless. Would also be quite an issue for a wheelchair user I suspect.

I have fire doors, and we ended up taking some of the springs off, and
providing wedges for others, the springs are a real PITA. However we
do make sure all doors are shut at night.

When we fitted the doors, cause we put a 3rd floor on, we also had to
fireboard the walls, to make them as fire resiatant as the new doors.

The other downside is that they are ugly, there are few designs.


I would look carefully at escape routes, and likley causes of fire,
and insulate one from the other, for example put a fire door to the
kitchen, so a fire from there does not spread to the hall blocking the
escape route from a bedroom.

Rick

"chris French" wrote in message

But do they let you get out in the event of a fire?

What do you mean by 'let you get out'? If you mean can you open them in a
fire, yes.

All a fire door does is hold back fire and smoke better and for longer
than a normal door. I imagine they are being recommended in this situation
because the wheelchair user presumably will not be able to get out so
easily (or possibly at all) in the event of fire so the fire doors would
give them extra protection whilst awaiting assistance.

That's if the fire is at the other side of the door. If it's on the side
where the chair user is it could be difficult.

It's not an easy problem ...

Mary

"Rick" wrote in message
...



I have fire doors, and we ended up taking some of the springs off, and
providing wedges for others, the springs are a real PITA. However we
do make sure all doors are shut at night.

I didn't realise that fires only happened at night ...

Mary

"Dave" wrote in message
...
John Rumm wrote:

SidKnee wrote:

Can anyone tell me what are the pros and cons of fire doors, I am to
replace all my doors to suit a wheelchair user and I am being
reccomended to replace them with Fire Doors throughout?!.


Pros: More solid, better sound insulation, impede spread of fire.
Cons: More expensive than an otherwise similar non fire door, 'kin heavy!

(If you actually want then to perform as fire doors then you also need to
either add an intumescent strip to the sides (they normally have one on
the top as standard), or increase the thickness of the door stops to
25mm)

Mmmmm. Local primary school props open its two newest fire doors (comp
with 'fire door, keep closed' sign on it) so as to allow openness.
Previously it was to let out the heat that got trapped inside the first
one.

The head wanted me to prop open the doors when I opened up the school. I
pointed to the signs and related all the fire training I undertook while
in the textile industry all those years ago and the extra training I had
in the aerospace industry just a few years ago and told her that I was not
prepared to wedge them open without a written request from her.
I have heard nothing since :-)

Well done!

Mary

Dave

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 20:45:02 GMT, "SidKnee"
wrote:

Can anyone tell me what are the pros and cons of fire doors, I am to
replace all my doors to suit a wheelchair user and I am being reccomended to
replace them with Fire Doors throughout?!.

I presume you are talking about a normal domestic house/flat? The
purpose of fire doors is to slow down the rate of spread of smoke
and, to a lesser extent, fire (despite their name). In large
buildings they are used to partition off escape routes - so that a
fire in one end of a building does not prevent escape at the other
end and also to contain areas of risk - such as kitchens.

In a house they are required if there 3 or more stories.
Unfortunately the wrong sort are often fitted and Darwin Award
nominees often remove them or wedge them open.

In a smallish space they have limited usefulness, are heavier than
conventional doors and are self closing. Unless fitted with magnetic
hold opens this latter feature makes them a real pain for wheelchair
users and also leads to the doors quickly being damaged. Unless you
have an odd layout I'd be wary of fitting them.

However there are two exceptions. One may be the kitchen door
(depending upon the design of house). If this is fitted I'd think
carefully about fitting an electromagnetic hold-open coupled to a
release switch on the wall and a heat sensor above the cooker. If
you don't people will wedge it open which makes it useless.

The second exception is if the wheelchair user sleeps/works upstairs
or in an annex with no easy access to the outside. In this case it
is worth considering making their room a protected area with a fire
door and, if upstairs, a protected floor. In the event of a fire
this gives them the opportunity to stay where they are in safety
until the fire service arrive. You will need to speak to the local
fire service about their response times (and lodge details of the
safe room with them - in the event of a fire they will know about it
before they arrive and will go for that first). Except for remote
areas fire response times are generally less than 15 mins and staying
in a protected room is usually much safer than trying to evacuate
someone in a wheelchair through smoke and flames.

--
Peter Parry.
http://www.wpp.ltd.uk/

In message , Mary
Fisher writes
we
do make sure all doors are shut at night.

I didn't realise that fires only happened at night ...

can't see flames in day time so they can't hurt

--
dave @ stejonda

"dave @ stejonda" wrote in message
...
In message , Mary Fisher
writes
we
do make sure all doors are shut at night.

I didn't realise that fires only happened at night ...

can't see flames in day time so they can't hurt

Ah! Of course. Wossisname used a pillar ofsmoke and that doesn't burn.

Mary

--
dave @ stejonda

"SidKnee" wrote in message
...
Can anyone tell me what are the pros and cons of fire doors, I am to
replace all my doors to suit a wheelchair user and I am being reccomended
to replace them with Fire Doors throughout?!.

Sid

I think your local fire station will have a
Fire Prevention Officer who I believe will
gladly visit you and advise, free of charge.

Well he did for me some years ago...

Roy

Mary Fisher wrote:

That's if the fire is at the other side of the door. If it's on the side
where the chair user is it could be difficult.

It's not an easy problem ...

But an ordinary door would cause the same problem would it not? (the
fact that it would let the fire *out* sooner would not really be the
issue here)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Tue, 12 Apr 2005 10:17:56 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:


"Rick" wrote in message
.. .



I have fire doors, and we ended up taking some of the springs off, and
providing wedges for others, the springs are a real PITA. However we
do make sure all doors are shut at night.

I didn't realise that fires only happened at night ...

Mary


But in the day we are awake to see them ......

Rick

Dave wrote:
Mmmmm. Local primary school props open its two newest fire doors (comp
with 'fire door, keep closed' sign on it) so as to allow openness.
snip
told her that I was
not prepared to wedge them open without a written request from her.
I have heard nothing since :-)

See there's your problem. Everyone knows that if you're going to prop
open fire doors you have to use the proper tool for the job - the
nearest extinguisher.

--
Spamtrap in use
To email replace 127.0.0.1 with blueyonder dot co dot uk

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Mary Fisher wrote:

That's if the fire is at the other side of the door. If it's on the side
where the chair user is it could be difficult.

It's not an easy problem ...

But an ordinary door would cause the same problem would it not?

yes ...

(the fact that it would let the fire *out* sooner would not really be the
issue here)


Mary

"Rick" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 12 Apr 2005 10:17:56 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:


"Rick" wrote in message
. ..



I have fire doors, and we ended up taking some of the springs off, and
providing wedges for others, the springs are a real PITA. However we
do make sure all doors are shut at night.

I didn't realise that fires only happened at night ...

Mary


But in the day we are awake to see them ......

Unless they're on the other side of a firedoor ...

Mary

Rick

"RzB" wrote in message
...


I think your local fire station will have a
Fire Prevention Officer who I believe will
gladly visit you and advise, free of charge.

Well he did for me some years ago...

And???

Mary
Roy

Well he did for me some years ago...

And???

Mary

And? Well - we haven't caught fire yet.

Roy

"RzB" wrote in message
...

Well he did for me some years ago...

And???

Mary

And? Well - we haven't caught fire yet.

LOL! I asked for that :-)

Mary

Roy

SidKnee wrote:
Can anyone tell me what are the pros and cons of fire doors, I am to
replace all my doors to suit a wheelchair user and I am being reccomended to
replace them with Fire Doors throughout?!.

Sid


Be wary of just buying and hanging fire doors to keep them as 'fire
doors' takes a lot of skill and knowledge the Certi-fire scheme run by
the BWF (British Woodworking Federation) http://www.bwf.org.uk/ will
list suitable suppliers.

I would agree with others they dont win any beauty awards but Premdor
(www.premdor.co.uk) do some nice veneered ones if I remember rightly
but they arent cheep and no I dont work for them.

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 20:45:02 GMT, "SidKnee"
wrote:

Can anyone tell me what are the pros and cons of fire doors, I am to
replace all my doors to suit a wheelchair user and I am being reccomended to
replace them with Fire Doors throughout?!.

It may not be obvious but there are different regulations for fire
doors depending on where they are to be fitted.

This is an area where it is usually best to get professional advice,
even if you do the work yourself.

Andrew

--

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